Today is Friday, January 8th, the end of a week that will literally go down in the history books. The real-time images of Americans, waving the American flag (among others), smashing their way into the Capitol building in Washington D.C. will live forever in the records of our era. The smiling faces of those who desecrated the symbol of our nation’s unique, historic greatness will haunt whatever legacy we bequeath to generations to come and dilute the message of liberty and self-government we have offered to the world.
More than once the words of President Abraham Lincoln have been invoked in the aftermath of this attack on our capitol and our nation. The words that come to my mind are these:
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
It is a reminder as much as a warning. A reminder of the pledge of allegiance we have all uttered innumerable times since our childhood, drilling in the words “one nation, under God, indivisible…”
It is a reminder that, before all other labels, we are Americans dedicated, as it says in our magnificent Declaration of Independence, to the proposition that “all men are created equal.”
It is a reminder that in this great house we call America all partisanship and political allegiances lead either to a stronger national edifice or one that must crack, crumble and collapse.
And we are the ones to choose. That is the beauty and the terror of a free society. Our words, our actions, our attitudes toward each other have real consequences.
As the significance of the tragedy of January 6, 2021 sinks in, may we all remember that…
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
We, the free people of the United States of America, have the ability and the responsibility to keep it standing, not break into it, loot it, mock it.
As we contemplate what comes next, let’s continue to strive for unity at home. Go out of your way to greet someone with a warm hello. Take just a moment or two to ask someone how they are doing. Whether at the local level or the national level, we are truly “in this together.” Let’s keep it that way
Until next we blog, stay informed, stay involved, stay strong and stay united Paso Robles.